actively learning in & beyond tuscaloosa

Tag: education

This summer it will be nine years since I left Greensboro, NC, for the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. I was headed to a Summer Pre-doctoral Fellow program. I’d complete my PhD in History there, having taken earlier coursework at the University of Chicago where I earned an MA in History.I remember the sense of… Continue reading nine years…

Eighth week of the semester in my rear view. Exhausted after last week and Homecoming, but energized by this week’s lectures. In my American Civilization Since 1865 class, I turn to the Great Depression with Miami’s Liberty Square, the first public housing project for African Americans in the South (a.k.a. the Pork n Bean projects),… Continue reading musings

I opened my mailbox and smiled. The latest issue of Alabama Heritage was inside. Among the featured stories is an article I wrote on how young women sidestepped stereotypes about southern belles by obtaining an education in the years leading to and beyond the Civil War. Above is a picture of African American… Continue reading Alabama Heritage magazine article in mailbox today

Less than fifty days left until the new school year begins. Much on my plate as I sort through so much. The hibiscus reminds me of my beginnings in Miami. Old documents remind me of the sacrifices of my parents and those from whom we descend. Seagrape leaves make me remember a past that is… Continue reading musings

This morning, I woke up to the sight of the Ohio River. Once upon a time, on one side lied freedom. On the other was slave territory. The history books now tell us there were different kinds of freedom. Cincinnati was the site of mob attacks on blacks before the Civil War. Although on free… Continue reading A river

Tea and breakfast sandwich start my day today as I count down the moments to sharing “The Grant Green Story” with others in Edinburgh. There is much for which I feel grateful. It has been a long haul and who knows what’s ahead. Most immediately, always in the back of my mind is the fall… Continue reading musings

On August 19, 1870, or roughly about 146 years ago this coming week, Carrie Leonteen Townsend, an African American college student, sat down to write a letter to her uncle Thomas Townsend. Carrie lived in Brookhaven, Mississippi. She was returning to school in New Orleans. She shared that and news about a visiting cousin. Before… Continue reading Edited collection sheds light on Alabama women and girls